2,086 research outputs found
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Assessment of cold neutron radiography capability
This is the final report of a one-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The authors goals were to demonstrate and assess cold neutron radiography techniques at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), Manual Lujan Neutron Scattering Center (Lujan Center), and to investigate potential applications of the capability. The authors have obtained images using film and an amorphous silicon detector. In addition, a new technique they have developed allows neutron radiographs to be made using only a narrow range of neutron energies. Employing this approach and the Bragg cut-off phenomena in certain materials, they have demonstrated material discrimination in radiography. They also demonstrated the imaging of cracks in a sample of a fire-set case that was supplied by Sandia National Laboratory, and they investigated whether the capability could be used to determine the extent of coking in jet engine nozzles. The LANSCE neutron radiography capability appears to have applications in the DOE stockpile maintenance and science-based stockpile stewardship (SBSS) programs, and in industry
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Using optical parametric oscillators (OPO) for wavelength shifting IR images to visible spectrum
The authors have carried out preliminary investigations into coherent imaging using Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPO) for wavelength conversion of near IR images to visible spectrum. A nonlinear crystal, second harmonic generator (SHG), was used for degenerate optical parametric up-conversion. A Potassium Titanyl Phosphate (KTP) doubling crystal was used to convert incident 1,540 nm flux to 772 nm. Experiments included investigation of spatial resolution and responsivity of the OPO. Spatial resolution of 1.3 1p/mm was attained in both horizontal and vertical axis. Measured responsivity for this OPO configuration compared well with that attained from image intensifier-based systems. Equipment used for this experiment included an ORION SB2-2R pulsed solid state laser used as a light source and a CCD camera and frame grabber to capture and record all data. The experiment and results are discussed
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Time-gated energy-selected cold neutron radiography
A technique is under development at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center (Lujan Center) for producing neutron radiography using only a narrow energy range of cold neutrons. The technique, referred to as Time-Gated Energy-Selected (TGES) neutron radiography, employs the pulsed neutron source at the Lujan Center with time of flight to obtain a neutron pulse having an energy distribution that is a function of the arrival time at the imager. The radiograph is formed on a short persistence scintillator and a gated, intensified, cooled CCD camera is employed to record the images, which are produced at the specific neutron energy range determined by the camera gate. The technique has been used to achieve a degree of material discrimination in radiographic images. For some materials, such as beryllium and carbon, at energies above the Bragg cutoff the neutron scattering cross section is relatively high while at energies below the Bragg cutoff the scattering cross section drops significantly. This difference in scattering characteristics can be recorded in the TGES radiography and, because the Bragg cutoff occurs at different energy levels for various materials, the approach can be used to differentiate among these materials. This paper outlines the TGES radiography technique and shows an example of radiography using the approach
Risk of Herpes zoster in patients with underlying diseases: a retrospective hospital-based cohort study
A Measurement of Rb using a Double Tagging Method
The fraction of Z to bbbar events in hadronic Z decays has been measured by
the OPAL experiment using the data collected at LEP between 1992 and 1995. The
Z to bbbar decays were tagged using displaced secondary vertices, and high
momentum electrons and muons. Systematic uncertainties were reduced by
measuring the b-tagging efficiency using a double tagging technique. Efficiency
correlations between opposite hemispheres of an event are small, and are well
understood through comparisons between real and simulated data samples. A value
of Rb = 0.2178 +- 0.0011 +- 0.0013 was obtained, where the first error is
statistical and the second systematic. The uncertainty on Rc, the fraction of Z
to ccbar events in hadronic Z decays, is not included in the errors. The
dependence on Rc is Delta(Rb)/Rb = -0.056*Delta(Rc)/Rc where Delta(Rc) is the
deviation of Rc from the value 0.172 predicted by the Standard Model. The
result for Rb agrees with the value of 0.2155 +- 0.0003 predicted by the
Standard Model.Comment: 42 pages, LaTeX, 14 eps figures included, submitted to European
Physical Journal
Measurement of the B+ and B-0 lifetimes and search for CP(T) violation using reconstructed secondary vertices
The lifetimes of the B+ and B-0 mesons, and their ratio, have been measured in the OPAL experiment using 2.4 million hadronic Z(0) decays recorded at LEP. Z(0) --> b (b) over bar decays were tagged using displaced secondary vertices and high momentum electrons and muons. The lifetimes were then measured using well-reconstructed charged and neutral secondary vertices selected in this tagged data sample. The results aretau(B+) = 1.643 +/- 0.037 +/- 0.025 pstau(Bo) = 1.523 +/- 0.057 +/- 0.053 pstau(B+)/tau(Bo) = 1.079 +/- 0.064 +/- 0.041,where in each case the first error is statistical and the second systematic.A larger data sample of 3.1 million hadronic Z(o) decays has been used to search for CP and CPT violating effects by comparison of inclusive b and (b) over bar hadron decays, No evidence fur such effects is seen. The CP violation parameter Re(epsilon(B)) is measured to be Re(epsilon(B)) = 0.001 +/- 0.014 +/- 0.003and the fractional difference between b and (b) over bar hadron lifetimes is measured to(Delta tau/tau)(b) = tau(b hadron) - tau((b) over bar hadron)/tau(average) = -0.001 +/- 0.012 +/- 0.008
Impacts of climate change on plant diseases – opinions and trends
There has been a remarkable scientific output on the topic of how climate change is likely to affect plant diseases in the coming decades. This review addresses the need for review of this burgeoning literature by summarizing opinions of previous reviews and trends in recent studies on the impacts of climate change on plant health. Sudden Oak Death is used as an introductory case study: Californian forests could become even more susceptible to this emerging plant disease, if spring precipitations will be accompanied by warmer temperatures, although climate shifts may also affect the current synchronicity between host cambium activity and pathogen colonization rate. A summary of observed and predicted climate changes, as well as of direct effects of climate change on pathosystems, is provided. Prediction and management of climate change effects on plant health are complicated by indirect effects and the interactions with global change drivers. Uncertainty in models of plant disease development under climate change calls for a diversity of management strategies, from more participatory approaches to interdisciplinary science. Involvement of stakeholders and scientists from outside plant pathology shows the importance of trade-offs, for example in the land-sharing vs. sparing debate. Further research is needed on climate change and plant health in mountain, boreal, Mediterranean and tropical regions, with multiple climate change factors and scenarios (including our responses to it, e.g. the assisted migration of plants), in relation to endophytes, viruses and mycorrhiza, using long-term and large-scale datasets and considering various plant disease control methods
Measurements of Dihadron Correlations Relative to the Event Plane in Au+Au Collisions at GeV
Dihadron azimuthal correlations containing a high transverse momentum (\pt)
trigger particle are sensitive to the properties of the nuclear medium created
at RHIC through the strong interactions occurring between the traversing parton
and the medium, i.e. jet-quenching. Previous measurements revealed a strong
modification to dihadron azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions with
respect to \pp\ and \dAu\ collisions. The modification increases with the
collision centrality, suggesting a path-length dependence to the jet-quenching
effect. This paper reports STAR measurements of dihadron azimuthal correlations
in mid-central (20-60\%) Au+Au collisions at \snn=200~GeV as a function of
the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane,
\phis=|\phit-\psiEP|. The azimuthal correlation is studied as a function of
both the trigger and associated particle \pt. The subtractions of the
combinatorial background and anisotropic flow, assuming Zero Yield At Minimum
(\zyam), are described. The away-side correlation is strongly modified, and the
modification varies with \phis, which is expected to be related to the
path-length that the away-side parton traverses. The pseudo-rapidity (\deta)
dependence of the near-side correlation, sensitive to long range \deta
correlations (the ridge), is also investigated. The ridge and jet-like
components of the near-side correlation are studied as a function of \phis.
The ridge appears to drop with increasing \phis while the jet-like component
remains approximately constant. ...Comment: 50 pages, 39 figures, 6 table
Studying Parton Energy Loss in Heavy-Ion Collisions via Direct-Photon and Charged-Particle Azimuthal Correlations
Charged-particle spectra associated with direct photon () and
are measured in + and Au+Au collisions at center-of-mass energy
GeV with the STAR detector at RHIC. A hower-shape
analysis is used to partially discriminate between and .
Assuming no associated charged particles in the direction (near
side) and small contribution from fragmentation photons (), the
associated charged-particle yields opposite to (away side) are
extracted. At mid-rapidity () in central Au+Au collisions,
charged-particle yields associated with and at high
transverse momentum ( GeV/) are suppressed by a factor
of 3-5 compared with + collisions. The observed suppression of the
associated charged particles, in the kinematic range and GeV/, is similar for and , and
independent of the energy within uncertainties. These
measurements indicate that the parton energy loss, in the covered kinematic
range, is insensitive to the parton path length.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett, 6 pages, 4 figure
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